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The Last of Us: Left Behind – Hands On

Head back to the brutal Quarantine Zone and get to grips with this additional single player adventure for the 2013 Game of the Year.

A friend in need...

Riley and Ellie are two friends trying to make the most of the bleak world that they were born into. Dreams of adventure can never be anything but dreams; any more could get them killed by the constant threat of the Infected that roam the world outside of the Quarantine Zone. That is, until Riley shows up in Ellie's room after a long absence, clutching a Firefly name tag.

Discover a new chapter in Ellie's life

The Last of Us: Left Behind for PlayStation 3 is an additional single-player adventure that transports us back to the twisted vision of the future which 2013's Game of the Year presented in such eerily beautiful style. Straddling the events at the climax of The Last of Us (and thus containing a few potential spoilers for anyone yet to finish the full game) and a time before Ellie and Joel met, Left Behind is an original story of friendship, loyalty and survival in a world torn apart by infection and violence.

You'll take control of Ellie and, as with The Last of Us, be thrust into a world where scavenging for supplies, weapons and first aid is essential to staying alive. Initially, you'll find yourself in a derelict, snow-blown shopping mall, casting new light on some of the events of the winter chapters of the original game.

Friendship against all odds

Throughout this new story, you'll find yourself moving back and forth from the original The Last of Us setting to a prequel which sheds more light on Ellie's upbringing in the Quarantine Zone, her friendship with Riley and her obsession with the shadowy group known as the Fireflies.

As they explore the crumbling city that cowers under oppressive military rule, getting up to mischief and cracking jokes as they go, you'll learn more about life within the Quarantine Zone and the hopes, fears and fates of its inhabitants. The setting may be bleak, but Ellie's trademark wit shines through; look out for the fortune-telling skull in the Halloween costume shop that the girls sneak in to.

This new chapter reveals some happier times in Ellie's life – as happy as a life spent under military lockdown can be, at least – but is still fraught with danger as ruthless survivors and the hideous Infected lurk around every corner.

Scavenge to survive

Playing as Ellie, you'll need to draw on all the skills and tactics that you learned controlling Joel throughout The Last of Us. Encounters with groups of violent Infected and deadly Clickers will require split second choices to be made; what weapons will you need to distract – or attack – your enemies with? Will you sneak around them, hoping to escape without being noticed – or take the fight to them head-on? Do you have the supplies you need to lay traps and lure the Infected into them?